Mysteries of Life ELA A10
Poetic Meter and Rhyme Scheme
Meter: a rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables which are organized into patterns, called
feet. In English poetry, the most common meters are these:
1.
Iambic: a foot consisting of an unstressed and stressed syllable. This is sometimes
called the heartbeat rhythm—da-DUM da-DUM da-Dum. Our regular speech is mostly
iambic.
Examples:
u / u /
u / u /
u
/ (u=unstressed and /=stressed)
o Shall I Com-pare Thee to a sum-mer’s day”
2.
Trochaic: a foot consisting of a stressed and unstressed syllable.
Examples:


Double, double, toil and trouble. (The three witches' speech in Macbeth)
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. (“The Raven”)
3.
Anapestic: a foot consisting of two unstressed syllables and a stressed syllable. These
lines from Shelley's Cloud are anapestic:
"Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb
I arise and unbuild it again."
Advanced Learning: (You don’t have to know this, but it’s cool if you know of it).
4. Dactylic: a foot consisting of a stressed syllable and two unstressed syllables, as in these
words: swimingly, mannikin, openly.
5. Spondee: a foot consisting of two stressed syllables, as in the word heartbreak. In
English, this foot is used occasionally, for variety or emphasis.
6. Pyrrhic: a foot consisting of two unstressed syllables generally used to vary the rhythm.
Feet: one poetic foot=two syllables.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Monometer: one foot
Dimeter: two feet
Trimeter: three feet
Tetrameter: four feet
Pentameter: five feet
Hexameter: six feet
Heptameter: seven feet.
Octameter: eight feet
** The most common metrical lines in English are tetrameter (four feet) and pentameter
(five feet).
Mysteries of Life ELA A10
Common Types
1. Blank Verse is unrhymed iambic pentameter (Shakespeare).
2. Ballad Meter: a form of common meter. It consists of quatrains (stanzas of four lines).
The lines alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Every other line
rhymes (abab cdcd efef ghgh etc.) Only the even lines, as in 2nd and 3rd lines must
rhyme in ballad meter (abcb). Several hymns have this construction:
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, a
(iambic tetrameter)
That saved a wretch like me! B
(iambic trimeter)
I once was lost, but now am found, a
(iambic tetrameter)
Was blind, but now I see. B
(iambic trimeter)
Free Verse: No consistent meter or rhyme.
Masculine Rhyme: Only the last syllable of one line rhymes with the last syllable of
another line.
Feminine Rhyme: The last two syllables of one line rhyme with the last two syllables of
another line.
Eye Rhyme: the final syllable(s) of the line look(s) like they should rhyme but they don’t:
love/move.
And the mother gave, in tears and pain
She knew she should find them all again
Imperfect/Half Rhyme: it’s not a true rhyme. It’s usually consonance, like shall/ill.
Portmanteau: a combination of two or more words and their definitions into one new
word. Refer to “Jabberwocky.”
Poems we studied
1. “Legend of the Qu’Appelle Valley”: Iambic Pentameter
I AM the one who loved her as my life, (a-iambic pentameter)
Had watched her grow to sweet young woman-hood; (b-iambic pentameter)
Won the dear privilege to call her wife, (a-iambic pentameter)
And found the world, because of her, was good. (b-iambic pentameter)
2. “The Raven”: Trochaic. Mostly octameter lines.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, a
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, b
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,c
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.b
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -b
Only this, and nothing more.'b
3. “Lady of Shalott”: Four numbered parts with discrete, isometric (equally-long) stanzas. The
first two parts contain four stanzas each, while the last two parts contain five. Each stanza
contains nine lines with the rhyme scheme AAAABCCCB. The “B” always stands for “Camelot” in
Mysteries of Life ELA A10
the fifth line and for “Shalott” in the ninth. The “A” and “C” lines are always in tetrameter, while
the “B” lines are in trimeter.
5. “The Reaper and the Flowers”—Ballad Meter (see above)
“There is a Reaper whose name is Death,
And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
Metaphor—old people
And the flowers that grow between” (”The Reapers and the Flowers”)
Metaphor—children
And the mother gave, in tears and pain
She knew she should find them all again
Eye Rhyme
Theme: Death doesn’t want to take children, but sometimes it has to and they will live
in heaven and it will be great.
7. “Annabel Lee”- the even lines end with a long ‘e’ sound. The lines of the poem alternate in
length between a long line (usually with 9 to 11 syllables) and a short line (usually with 6 to 8
syllables). Poe repeats this rhythmic pattern throughout the poem, perhaps to suggest the rise
and fall of the tides.
Poe mixes anapests and iambs.
It was ma/ny and ma/ny a year/ a go/, (three anapests and one iamb, 11 syllables)
In a king/dom by/ the sea/, (two anapests and one iamb, 7 syllables)
For the moon/ never beams,/ without bring/ing me dreams/ (anapestic tetrameter)
Of the beau/tiful Ann/abel Lee;/ (anapestic trimeter)
And the stars/ never rise,/ but I feel/ the bright eyes/ (anapestic tetrameter)
Of the beau/tiful Ann/abel Lee;/ (anapestic trimeter)
da da DUM, da da DUM, da da DUM
Theme: Not even death can separate eternal love.
Assonance: And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side.
8. “The Princess in the Tower”—Five quatrains with abab, cdcd, etc. rhyme scheme. Meter is
not consistent. Theme: A knight in shining armour isn’t as great as one thinks it’s going to be.
9. “The Listeners”—Even lines rhyme, i.e. 2 and 4, 6 and 8, 10 and 12, 14 and 16, and so on. All
the rhymes are masculine rather than feminine. The line lengths range from six to fourteen
syllables. Most of the lines combine anapests and iambs:
Of the FOR / est's FERN /y FLOOR (anapest, iamb, iamb)
And he FELT / in his HEART / their STRANGE / ness (anapest, anapest, iamb, and a
catalexis—an incomplete syllable)
Theme: Life is full of mysteries that cannot be explained; an allegory for Jesus knocking
on the door of our hearts and wanting to let us in.
10. “The Highway Man”—Most lines have six feet (hexameter). He mixes anapests and iambs.
The wind | was a tor|rent of dark|ness among | the gus|ty trees, (iamb, anapest,
anapest, anapest, iamb, iamb)
The moon | was a ghost|ly gall|eon tossed | upon cloud|y seas, (iamb, anapest, iamb,
anapest, anapest, iamb).
Theme: love is eternal bond; love is noble; forbidden love ends in tragedy.
Mysteries of Life ELA A10
11. “The Chariot”—Six quatrains alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimester.
The rhyme scheme is inconsistent. There are some imperfect rhymes.
Theme: Death is a promotion to eternity! Death is personified as a gentleman.
12. “Sweet William’s Ghost”—ballad. This was an old folk song of many versions. The meter
and rhyme varies.
13. “St. George”—free verse.
Theme: Sometimes men jump to the rescue before they ask questions; people make
assumptions based on appearances.
14. “Paul Bunyan”—free verse.
Theme: We often make local heroes into larger than life people.
Hyperboles: “the moon slung on his back” (4); “his laugh / rolled through the mountains
/ like thunder” (23-5)
15. “Jabberwocky”—Nonsense poem. Seven quatrains. Mostly, abab rhyme scheme. First three
lines are iambic tetrameter and the last line is iambic trimeter.
16. “The Execution”—free verse. About a case of mistaken identity.
Theme: Capital punishment can punish the wrong person.
17. “The Man Who Finds His Son Has Become A Thief”—
Theme: Parents find it difficult to accept that their children are bad. Children often lie to
their parents or disappoint their parents. Personification: “that evidence / Almost as if
tightened slowly around the neck” (8-9)